February 17, 2024
No time to say hello, goodbye
No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late! - - The White Rabbit
Was I really only five years old when Alice in Wonderland first hit the screens? It opened in NYC in July 1951, so by the time it made it to backwoods Charleston, West Virginia it was probably late in the year if not later. I can’t remember the experience now, though I remember my sister and I being regular Saturday morning moviegoers back there, seeing eight or so cartoons and B&W newsreels before coming to the main feature. I’ll have to probe Elizabeth’s memory to see what she remembers, and the name of that theater: the Capitol? Or it might have even been at a drive-in, depending on time of year.
I woke up this morning feeling pressured by time, and not quite believing that we’re really leaving the country in just a few days. We really do have this routine down in general, but it still seems like there are so many last minute tasks to see to. It’s time to concentrate and focus on departure if we don’t want to drop something important. So let’s shut this thing down.
A few last things to observe though before closing the cover of another volume. First, there was Bruce and Andrea’s return from Asia Thursday night. I volunteered to pick them up at the airport for their 8:05 arrival from Ontario (That’s an airport? Really?). The plan was that I’d meet Bruce there and take him and their bikes and luggage home but Andrea would get a ride from her son, since it didn’t seem like we’d be able to fit three adults, two boxed bikes and assorted gear into the car.
Straight forward enough, but things happen. First, about the arrival time. I’d been tracking the flight and had received texts from them so I knew that the flight was an hour late. I set the alarm on my iPad to alert me to leave home at 8:15; but then when I rechecked the flight arrival website at 8, it now said the flight was on time. It’s arriving any minute! I’m late, I’m late, for very important date!
So I quickly said goodbye to Rachael and rushed out the door. Ten minutes later, I’m on the Banfield Freeway about fifteen minutes from the terminal when the alarm starts going off on the iPad in my rucksack every few seconds. I’m pretty sound sensitive, and because I can’t reach over and shut it off while I’m driving after a few minutes I decide that fifteen minutes of this will drive me mad and I pull off at the next exit (33rd) to shut down the alarm. Unfortunately, 33rd was a poor choice because there’s no eastbound onramp there so I can’t get back on the freeway. I check my phone and see that my best route is now the back door into the airport, out Sandy Boulevard and 82nd. I didn’t even know this was an option, so I’m unfamiliar with where I’m going and I’m not that great at driving in the dark any more.
But it works out, and I pull into the cell phone waiting lot at about 8:30 and wait for the call - which comes a chilly half hour later because the flight actually is late.
Traffic at the arrivals gate is a complete madhouse, with hundreds of drivers gingerly weaving in and out of three lanes like bumper cars, trying to get curbside for a pickup and then back into traffic again. I navigate it though, and make it up to the Alaska gate where the returning heroes are waiting and flagging me down. We cram the Raven with both bike boxes and all the luggage, but then it registers that Andrea’s still standing on the curb. Her son’s on babysitting duty and couldn’t come after all, so it’s the Raven or an Uber pickup.
Bike boxes are shoved up snug against the right door, but it’s not enough - the small back seat won’t go up unless the bikes go on the roof, which isn’t an option either. No problem says Bruce, who turns himself into a human pretzel and jams himself into the tiny space that’s been freed up. And we’re off, me praying that the door doesn’t blow open and leave him lying on the road.
So that happened. And then yesterday I drove down to Salem for coffee dates with my friends Frank and Carl. With some time to spare between visits, I drove down to the riverfront to look around for birds; but I didn’t stay there more than a few minutes before heading back to shelter. It’s bitingly cold and very windy, and I’m hardly dressed for the occasion because I didn’t think to bring a coat and I’m wearing short pants still because I’ve never gotten around to replacing the jeans that I lost when my suitcase was stolen in Tucson two months ago. Somehow it just never seemed worth the trouble when we’re about to leave for sunny Spain soon anyway.
And there weren’t any birds either, other than a few Canada geese and mallards. Nothing interesting really, except for a lone squirrel looking as cold as I felt.
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It was beautiful on the way back, the mountains and foothills white and radiant from the recent snowfalls. On a whim I decided to drive up to Council Crest for a better view before heading home. Which was great, but it was even colder and windier up there than at the riverfront so I took a few quick shots and headed back to the car.
Anything else before we go? Yup - one last bird. Wednesday morning I drove out to Hayden Island (I’m still not supposed to start biking yet) to look across the Columbia hoping I might see a Barrow’s goldeneye, one of the few remaining species I’ve been holding out hope for here. When I get there it’s cold and very windy, and even with my coat on this time it’s too much for me to endure for very long in my short pants.
And maybe it’s because it’s so windy that there are almost no birds on the river this morning. Just a few geese and some scaups. And the wintery views are nice, of course. That’s really it though - except for those two whitish birds far out. Let’s zoom in. Score!!
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Join us in Mallorca! The weather is looking fabulous, it should be amazing.
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And thank you so much for picking us up at the airport with all of our stuff. Fitting that your journal ends with describing the ending our our journey as well.
Thank you for welcoming us and delivering us home.
I can't wait to follow you both on your next adventure. You guys are amazing!
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